Undivided
by Taya7
Summary: When the team searches for 2 missing persons at the same time they have to find out that the world is sometimes smaller than expected. One of the cases reminds Sam of her past and the impact of one decision. some MS, all characters
1. Chapter 1

Title: **UNDIVIDED**

Author: **TAYA**

Disclaimer: The characters and the concept of "Without a trace" don't belong to me. Places and names are what my mind made up as well as the story.

Chapter 1

The continuing rain made the crowd rush even more hectic through the streets of New York City than usual. People were hastening to get to the place they headed for.

Samantha Spade was not in a hurry though. She had got up this morning with a strange feeling that something wasn't right. She did have a terrible headache and had felt a little wobbly on her feet. The dream she had had that night hadn't haunted her for quite a long time. But this night it had come back. It had been about her childhood and that was not really a thing she liked to think about too much. It made her feel vulnerable and weak. She didn't exactly know why, but she wasn't sure if she really wanted to. It had been a time when she was so different from how she was now and she had done a lot of things she wished she could undo today. She had given her mother a hard time with her headstrong nature, but she had felt the need for attention back then. She and her mother hadn't really parted as friends and that made her sad when she thought about it. But she had made her decisions and she didn't regret what her life had turned out to be. She and mother were at least talking to each other again although it was not a typical mother/daughter-relationship yet.

However she had to admit that this dream had shaken her a bit and she was still trying to keep the pain in her head under control.

She had almost reached the main entrance of the FBI building when she heard a familiar voice.

„Hey, Sam, are you coming? I'm getting soaked here!" It was Martin. She couldn't help smiling.

"Well, you didn't have to wait for me. You could have just gone inside."

"Yeah, I know, but what kind of gentleman would that have made me?"

"Right." She said grinning.

The door opened allowing them access to the great hall.

Martin shook his head twice to get at least a bit of the water off his hair. Sam closed her umbrella as they made their way to the elevator.

"You know I just saw you coming down the street. That's actually the reason I waited there for you. Didn't you take a cab this morning?"

Sam pressed the button to call the elevator down and turned to look at him.

"No, I felt like taking the subway today. Just getting some fresh air on the way to the station."

"Tough night?" Martin asked jokingly, but it sounded more worried than anything else.

There was a "beep" of the elevator, the doors opened and they both stepped in.

"Something like that. Bad dream, I didn't really get much sleep."

Martin cast her a concerned glance. Though they weren't a couple anymore for almost a year now he still cared deeply for her and so did she. But their story was a complicated one and they both were okay with the friendship they shared at the moment. Still there was something between them that connected them deeply and which couldn't just be wiped out like nothing had ever happened.

"You know, if you wanna talk about it..." He offered after a short period of silence had passed between them.

She shook her head.

"No, thanks though." They stood in silence the rest of the time till the elevator doors opened again.

"Another day at the office." Martin sighed as they made their way to their workplaces.

"Morning." Danny yawned as he saw his two friends approaching.

"Good morning to you, too." Martin said, but when he got a closer look at him he added:

"You look like hell." Danny's hair was tousled and his eyes were still half closed.

"Is it that obvious? I really tried my best to hide it." He moaned and stroked his hair with his fingers.

Martin put his bag on his desk and came over to Danny's bullpen.

"So what have you been up to? Been out till early morning?" He asked.

Danny leaned back in his chair.

"I wish I had. But actually I was looking forward to a good night's sleep after that long office day yesterday. So I went to bed early, but my damn neighbor's damn cat thought it would be nice to meow the whole night. Martin, I swear I was so close to shoot that thing."

Martin laughed.

"I can well believe that. Maybe you should consider moving out."

Danny nodded.

"I have thought about that last night in one of those minutes I lay awake in my bed, but where I live now it's not far to my favorite club." These word's came out as if he really meant it, but Danny was a fantastic actor. Martin laughed again.

"Yeah right, that's an issue."

"Well actually, Marty, you should come with me some time. To the club I mean."

"I really appreciate the offer, but I think I'm getting too old for that sort of things."

He stood up from Danny's table and made his way back to his own desk.

"Too old! Come on!" Danny called after him.

Sam had listened to their conversation with amusement, but she didn't exactly feel like joining it. She had one of those days when she wanted to reduce talking to a minimum. Just get this day over with as quickly as possible.

She turned on her computer, greeted Elena Delgardo who entered the office and looked over to Jack's office. He was talking to Vivian in there. This wasn't a good sign. She could almost smell a new case.

Sam took a deep breath and quickly scanned the papers on her desk. _Okay, let's get this started with,_ she told herself and began following her daily routine.

* * *

It was not two minutes later that Jack and Vivian came in and asked them to take a seat at the conference table.

"What have we got?" Elena asked when they were all gathered around the desk.

Jack stood up and went over to the blackboard.

"We just got a call from a woman called Catherine Rowley who reported her husband Alexander Rowley missing." He wrote down the name.

"He has been missing for approximately 8 hours. Was out with a friend last night and never showed up home again. I'm going to talk to his wife. Elena, you're with me. Viv and Martin you go and talk to this friend. Sam and Danny you do a background check on this guy. I'll talk to his coworkers later. Maybe they know where he could be."

Danny already headed to his computer and tipped in some things.

"What have you got?" Jack asked him. He appreciated Danny's initiative. The team knew he welcomed to know something about the missing person before heading out somewhere.

"Alexander Rowley, 35 years old, born in Boston/Massachusetts, works in the IT section of Miller's and Lyme in Staten Island, married to Catherine Rowley, one daughter Loraine, no record."

Jack nodded and the other's began to rise from their chairs.

"Alright, let's find Alexander Rowley."

* * *

"I really wonder why they are giving us cases like this." Danny said while he and Sam were sitting in front of their computers searching for things that might tell them something about Alex Rowley's whereabouts.

She didn't even take her eyes off her computer and shook her head.

"I don't know either."

Danny leaned back in his chair and turned to look at her.

"Well for all we know he could be one of those guys who only ran away from their seemingly perfect life. Maybe this is Van Doren's way to tell us something."

Now Sam looked up at her friend in amusement.

"Come on, Danny. I think you're getting paranoid."

"Maybe I am." He turned back to his computer.

"This guy is so dull. I can't find a thing. He didn't even get a ticket for wrong parking. He's so white that it's almost scary." He said after a while.

"Who is as perfect as this in society usually has a lot to hide when you dig deeper." She stated and continued her work.

* * *

"Mrs. Rowley, when was the last time you saw your husband?" Jack asked the younger woman that was sitting opposite of him on the sofa.

Elena hadn't taken a seat. She stood behind the sofa and scanned the living room carefully. It was a modest, but comfortable room with light colours and pictures on the wall. She took a closer look at the pictures.

"Oh, it was yesterday about six o'clock. He came back from work at five, we had dinner which doesn't happen so very often lately, because he often has to work late and then he told me he wanted to meet with Phinn... This is a friend of his, Phineas Fitzlewis. He went out at about six and never came back." Catherine Rowley didn't seem to be the kind of person who took all of this with much composure. She started crying and her sobbing made it difficult for Jack to understand her properly.

"Did he say when he wanted to come back?"

"No, but he didn't have to. We have a silent agreement that he never comes back after midnight. When he still wasn't there then I called Phinn, but he didn't know where he was. I got so worried that I called the police."

Jack nodded and wrote down something on his notebook.

"Do you know why he wanted to meet with this Mr Fitzlewis?"

Catherine thought about this question for a minute, but then shook her head.

"No, but I suppose they would just go out to get a beer or something. I mean, they are friends. That's what friends do, right?"

Jack didn't answer her question and just took some notes.

Meanwhile Elena studied the pictures. Most of them showed a happy family. There was a picture of people she concluded must be his parents and one with hers. Several showed their daughter in almost every stage of her life. The newest ones showed her at about 5 years old. Then there were a lot of pictures which their daughter must have painted.

"Do you like them?" She heard a weak voice behind her.

Elena turned around and saw the girl from the photos standing there. She was blonde and rather small for her age.

"Yes, I like them. Did you paint them?"

The little girl nodded and raised her head in pride.

"I like painting."

Elena smiled at her.

"I can see that. My name is Elena. And you must be Loraine."

"I am. Are you looking for my daddy?" The girl's face showed sadness.

"That's right. And we'll find him, okay?"

The girl nodded.

"Loraine, please go back to your room." Mrs Rowley called and the little girl went back up the stairs to get to her room.

END CHAPTER ONE...

**

* * *

**

**A/N**: Sorry for any mistakes concerning language. I am a lazy German girl, who didn't use a dictionary;)

And this fic is actually more a general fic than romance. But I am a M/S-shipper and this might become obvious in some parts of the story:)

About Elena: I don't like her much, but I included her nevertheless.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2:**

Martin knocked at the wooden door which belonged to Phineas Fitzlewis apartment. He and Vivian stood there for a while, but nobody opened.

Martin knocked again.

"Mr Fitzlewis, please open the door. It's the FBI."

Finally something started to stir behind the door and they could hear a male voice.

"I'm coming, I'm coming."

Martin and Vivian exchanged knowing glances.

The door opened and in front of them stood a man about Martin's age, who was at least 6'3" tall. He looked as if he had just got out of bed: Half-dressed and quite undone.

"I'm very sorry about this. I didn't expect to get company." He said obviously a bit ashamed of his present appearance.

"No problem, Mr Fitzlewis. Would you mind if we come in?" Vivian asked holding up her badge.

"Of course not. If you don't mind the mess."

Martin grimaced when they entered the apartment. It was dark and Mr Fitzlewis hadn't exaggerated when he had mentioned a mess. Admittedly he himself wouldn't win the homemaker's award either, but this was even worse.

"Please take a seat." Fitzlewis offered.

The agents took that offer.

"Mr Fitzlewis, we wanted to talk about Alexander Rowley. We understand that you were the last to see him yesterday." Vivian explained.

"So it would seem. We wanted to get a drink and talk about this and that. We were friends since we left high school. You know, two Boston kids stranded in New York City together." He seemed to get lost in his memories and Martin wanted to call him back to reality before he drifted too far away.

"And where did you go?"

The question produced the effect Martin had hoped for, Fitzlewis focused on them again.

"Oh, that was the O'Neill's just around the corner. I have Irish ancestors and I like to get a glass of Guinness every now and then."

"Right. And how long did you stay?" Vivian asked unmistakably a bit annoyed about the unimportant details Fitzlewis was giving.

"Till about 10 o'clock. I had to get home, because I was working the early shift today. I just got back and went to take a nap when you came by."

"Did Alexander go anywhere else after that?" Martin inquired.

Phineas Fitzlewis chuckled silently and shook his head.

"I wouldn't know for sure of course, but I don't think so. He never wants to get his wife worried about his whereabouts."

"Did he have any problems with his wife?" That was Vivian again.

"I think I'm not really the person you should ask that."

Martin started to get angry with this guy.

"Look, I don't know why you seem to think this is a joke, but just to enlighten you: This is quite a serious subject here. And if you have any intention of finding your Boston friend without becoming the prime subject I suggest you start talking now about the things that are important for us to know."

Fitzlewis threw his hands up.

"Alright, alright. He had some trouble with his wife lately. He was under some pressure, because he thought he couldn't stand up to her expectations. But that's all I know. He never really talked to me about it."

Vivian nodded.

"Now that's a beginning. Did Alexander leave the bar with you?"

"Yes, he went to his car and I walked home. We said our good-byes and that was it."

"Did Alexander drink as well?" Martin asked.

"Yeah, 2 pints or something... I can't remember."

"And he drove home with his car after drinking alcohol?"

"Yes, it wasn't that much though... I guess."

"Right." Martin stood up. He left the apartment to call the office. Someone had to check out, if there had been any car accidents last night on the way from the bar to the Rowley's home.

* * *

"That was Martin. He wants us to check out if there have been any car accidents on the way from a bar where Rowley was last seen to his home." Danny said rushing back into his bullpen. He had got Martin's call on his mobile while he had got himself a cup of coffee. 

"I'm on it." Sam spoke with a little less enthusiasm than intended. She searched all filed reports of car accidents last night. There were several, some more severe than others, but none matched the description Martin had given them.

"No, I can't find anything. This is just so frustrating. The guy didn't even have a reason for running away. I really can't figure why he's missing." She rested her head on her hands.

Danny eyed her suspiciously.

"Are you okay, Sam? You look quite pale."

She shook her head vehemently.

"I'm fine. It's just a headache nothing else."

"If you say so."

"I get myself some coffee."

Sam stood up and headed for the break room. She just wanted to be alone for a moment.

* * *

When Martin and Vivian entered the office again Danny already came up to them. 

"Hey, good to see you. Where have you left Jack and Elena?" He asked.

"They're questioning some people from Rowley's work. They'll be back here within the hour." Vivian said while she headed for her bullpen.

When she was out of sight Danny turned to Martin.

"You know what's going on with Sam? She is in quite a mood today."

Martin felt a little uncomfortable that he was the one asked about Sam. He thought Danny expected him to have something to do with it.

"I don't know. Maybe just a bad day." He stated, but he wasn't convinced with what he had said himself. Before anything more could be said Vivian called them.

"We just got another call from the police. A 21 year-old woman named Juliet Newman has gone missing. Her brother called the police about half an hour ago. Jack wants Sam and Martin to check this one out. Danny, what have you got on her?"

Danny had returned to his computer and called up the file of Juliet Newman.

"Newman Juliet, born in Riverside/Ohio, 21 years old, single, father deceased, no record. Her brother's name is Matthew by the way. In case anyone needs to know."

* * *

"Alexander Rowley, missing? I don't believe it." 

"It is true, Mr Thornton." Jack looked around Alex Rowley's bosses office.

"Well I wondered why he didn't show up at work without saying anything today. He usually is a very reliable worker."

Jack nodded. The only thing he had heard from as well Rowley's wife as well as his boss was what a wonderful person he was. This was something that rang the alarm bells inside of him. Nobody was that perfect. Martin had called him and said that he had some trouble with his wife. Now that was something, but Catherine Rowley wouldn't know anything about it.

"Did Mr Rowley behave differently within the last few days?" Elena asked Mr Thornton who ran the IT section.

"No, I don't think so. He was always a quiet person, but very friendly. I've never seen him act strangely in any way."

"Did he ever mention he had trouble with his wife?" Elena was a specialist for very direct questions and that took many people by surprise, but Jack appreciated this new wind in his team. Thornton was a little confused by this straightforwardness.

"No, he never mentioned it. He kept his personal life and work strictly separated. But I actually can't believe there was trouble. He always left on time so he could be home with his family."

That definitely ran alarm bells in Jack.

When they had left Thornton's office to return to the FBI headquarters both agents were thinking the same.

"I thought his wife said Rowley often worked late." Elena finally said. Jack nodded. Finally they had found a fact which gave them something about Alex Rowley.

**END CHAPTER 2...**

* * *

**A/N:** Okay this was very much about the case... I'm sorry for that. But the next one will be better. Even got a little more MS;)

* * *


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3:**

"Matthew Newman?" Martin asked when the door of the apartment was opened. The building itself was a bit run down, but the man that greeted them at the door seemed to be an average citizen. He was rather small and had curly, dark hair. His clothes revealed him to be an individual of the sort "alternative". On his T-shirt stood in large letters "Red hot chili peppers".

"Yes that's me."

Martin held up his ID and introduced himself and then Samantha.

"Special Agent Fitzgerald and this is Special Agent Spade. We're with the FBI."

A sign of relief showed on Matthew's face.

"It was about time. Please come in."

The agents entered the small apartment. Martin was at ease with what he saw although he had to admit he hadn't expected it. This place was rather tidy.

"Nice apartment." He stated.

Matthew turned to him.

"Yeah, well, thanks. Trying to make the most of what I got. It's not really the nicest area to live in, but not so expensive either. Why don't you take a seat."

Both agents sat down on a sofa.

"So you called the police, because of your sister Juliet?" Sam asked.

The young man nodded.

"That's right. She wanted to meet me for dinner last night. We don't really see each other very often, because we move, how should I put it, in different circles. She is much of a party person. I wouldn't know anything of drugs and that sort of thing, but you know how such parties are. And I've been having a hard time getting my life in order myself. I really tried hard and finally got a job in the library. But she is my sister after all."

Sam began to feel a little uncomfortable. This reminded her quite a lot of the dream she had had that night. Maybe this wasn't a coincidence after all that she had had that dream. Maybe this feeling that something was wrong and that this day was going to be a tough one had been her instinct. Something inside of her trying to tell her something.

"And your sister didn't show up?" Martin continued the questioning when Sam didn't say anything.

"No, she didn't. So I went over to her place, but she wasn't there. I really don't know everything about her life and actually I don't want to know, but she never missed a dinner with me. She would have called to cancel it at least. But I didn't even get her on the phone."

"So you wouldn't know if she got herself into trouble?"

Matthew shook his head.

"I would probably be the last person to know. We grew up in a little town in Kansas and our dad died when we both were still young. Julie turned out as quite a rebel. She gave everybody a hard time. I don't say that I was much better and my mum sure could have been a better mum, but I think the one who suffered most from all this was Julie. She always wanted to get out of Riverside no matter what. And that's what she did. She made her decision. I finished High school and followed her to New York."

"Do you know of anyone who is very close to her?" Martin asked while quickly checking on Sam. She had been far too quiet he thought.

"There would be Lucy Hayes. She lives with her. I think they are good friends. But I wouldn't know of anyone else."

"Alright." Martin stood up and prepared to leave. Sam joined him.

"We come back to you if we have further questions or if we find out anything."

"Thanks for coming. I hope I just turn out to be too worried. Maybe it's just a misunderstanding."

Martin gave Matthew a reassuring smile. He liked the young man.

"We're doing our best to find her." He said before they left.

* * *

When they were down in the car Martin let out a deep sigh. Sam didn't even react. 

"If I could only read your thoughts right now." He finally said. She looked at him with a smile contrasting the sad features on her face.

"Come on. You know you can talk to me." He would never admit it, but it really hurt him to see her like that. And he wanted to help her just as she had helped him lately.

"I know I can. But it's just not so important." She looked out of the window and waited for him to start the car.

"Well it's been on your mind all day so I dare say it's important to you." He tried again to get something out of her.

It was in moments like these when she realized how much he actually meant to her. She looked into his eyes, but her glance quickly shifted to her hands she had placed on her legs, for fear of what might well up in her if she didn't.

He smiled weakly to himself when he realized what this moment was about, but he didn't want to push it.

Both remained silent for a while before Sam started talking again.

"You know, it's just this whole Newman family reminds me a lot of my own family and I've been thinking about them since I had that dream tonight. It's a bit confusing and I keep wondering if there is a message in this for me. Now I start sounding crazy." She chuckled a little bit, but at the same time a silent tear streamed down her cheek. She wiped it away quickly and hoped he hadn't seen it. He had, but he knew she wouldn't want his pity so he ignored it.

"If you ask me I'd say it's nothing you need to think of as crazy. If someone turns up who has lived almost exactly the same life as you have up to a certain point in life it's only natural to ask yourself the question "What if". And if I may be bold enough to say this: Your family was never a chapter in your life you really came to terms with."

Sam hadn't expected him to say such a thing, but he was right and she slowly nodded. Her headache caused her more pain now than it had the whole morning, but at least she felt a little better after talking about this with someone who understood.

"Maybe we should go see this Lucy Hayes now." She tried to change the subject.

Martin nodded and started the car.

"But just so you know, you're not alone in this, okay? I won't let you." He had a knack for saying the right things at the right time.

Sam just looked at him and he looked at her, but they both remained silent.

* * *

"Danny, what have you got on the phone records of Alexander Rowley?" Jack asked when he rushed into the office closely followed by Elena Delgardo. 

Danny instantly checked the papers in front of him. He had been studying them for quite a while, but had seen nothing out of the ordinary. But it often got a lot easier when you knew what you had to look for. He hoped Jack had found something that would help.

"Nothing interesting so far. Are you looking for anything in particular?" He put the papers back on his desk.

Jack came over to his bullpen.

"How about an affair?"

Danny looked up in surprise, then turned to his computer screen and grinned.

"So perfect Alex Rowley had an affair, ha?"

"Maybe. At least he had a reason to tell his wife he was working late and his coworkers he had to be home with his wife on time. So something is rotten in the world of Alexander Rowley."

"I'll take care of that." And Danny looked back into his papers to check the phone records once again.

"Elena, why don't you give him a hand. Vivian and I go visit the unknowing wife once more."

* * *

"Not really the place where you want leave your door unlocked at night." Martin said while he looked at the dreary scenery of run down town houses. In one corner he could make out some shady figures and a couple of young children were running across the narrow street jumping into the puddles which were left from the morning rain. 

Sam just nodded at Martin's comment. Every time she saw the people in such a neighborhood it made her value her own way of life even more, but it made her sad at the same time. Children that grew up here had it harder than anyone else to break through this cycle of hopelessness and many of them wouldn't succeed even though they were neither less intelligent nor didn't they deserve it less than children living in a better neighborhood.

"So where do we have to be?" Sam asked not wanting to pursue these thoughts any longer.

"Over there I think." Martin pointed at a door right left of them.

They walked over there and Martin knocked at the door. A small, corpulent man who was wearing a dirty undershirt and trousers opened the door. He had a cigarette in his hand and coughed the smoke he had just inhaled right into Sam's face.

Sam didn't try to hide her disgusted expression, but turned her face to breathe in some fresh air.

The man didn't seem to bother and an apology certainly was out of the question.

"What do you want?" He asked instead.

"Special Agents Fitzgerald and Spade." Martin introduced them. "We would like to speak to Lucy Hayes."

The man opened the door for them to enter and eyed them curiously.

"What kind of trouble has she got herself into now?"

"None that we know of." Sam said.

"What are you here for then?" The man asked rubbing his hands on his dirty shirt.

"A girl she lived with went missing. We have a couple of questions we would like to ask her." At first Martin wanted to add an "if that's okay with you", but he doubted that this guy would get the message.

"Oh, you mean Juliet. I haven't seen her around for a while. Thought she might have gone on the game again."

"She was into prostitution?" Martin asked curiously while Sam wrote the facts down on her notebook.

The guy smirked and Sam was even more disgusted by him.

"Every now and then when she needed money. Sometimes couldn't pay the rent, you know."

Martin took a deep breath.

"I think I get it, Mr...?"

"Wright, Gary Wright. I am the super of this building."

"Okay, Mr. Wright then. So she went on the game for drugs?"

The guy shrugged and then nodded.

"Well what else for would you do that."

* * *

"Mrs. Rowley, you told us your husband has been working late lately. Do you know how long he has been doing this?" Jack sat next to Vivian in the Rowley's living room again. 

Mrs. Rowley shifted uncomfortably in her seat. She had an idea into which direction this was heading and she clearly didn't like what Jack was implying.

"A couple of months. I didn't exactly mark the day in the calendar. Is there anything you want to tell me?"

Jack had done this a lot of times in his FBI career, but that didn't make it much easier. Every time he revealed such a detail as an affair he could be certain that he had just destroyed a seemingly perfect family. But it was necessary, because sometimes the ones that were hurt by their partners began to reveal essential information which lead to finding the missing person. But he felt bad nevertheless.

"We only found contradictions in your statement and that of his boss Mr Thornton. Your husband always seemed to leave work on time."

Mrs. Rowley couldn't believe it. She sat staring into nothingness for a minute or two and then said in a feeble voice:

"Are you saying he had an affair?"

Jack held up his hands and tried to calm her down a bit.

"We don't want to jump to any hasty conclusions, but that might be an option."

"I don't believe it. Everything seemed to be fine."

"I know this won't really help, but in cases like these it often does." Vivian said sympathetically.

At that moment Loraine came down the stairs with a piece of paper in her hands.

"Didn't you bring Elena?" She wanted to know from Jack.

"No, she is in the office trying to find your dad."

"Okay. Would you give this to her? I painted it. It's my dad. Maybe this will help find him." She handed the paper over to Jack, who swallowed hard when he took it.

"Of course I will."

* * *

"This guy was...yuck!" Sam said still shivering with dislike when she thought about him.. 

"Yeah, but not everybody knows the purpose of a piece of soap and clothing that covers at least the hair on your back." Martin laughed.

Sam grimaced and softly slapped his arm.

"Martin, stop it! I really don't want to remember. And the thought that this girl might have slept with him is giving me nightmares. How could any woman even touch a guy like this?"

Her partner shook his head.

"No idea. But there are different tastes, you know..."

They made their way up the stairs until they reached the door of Lucy's and Juliet's apartment.

This time it was Sam's turn to knock at the door.

"Lucy Hayes? This is the FBI, please open up."

Nothing happened. Martin knocked once again, but still the door remained shut.

"Great." Sam moaned as she leaned against the wall.

**END CHAPTER 3...**

* * *

**A/N:** So that was chapter 3. Please let me know what you think. Reviews are very much appreciated;) (There are 2 more chaps to come btw) 

Oh and I would like to announce something: I purchased myself my very first own car! The little one is not the newest and not the most handsome, but he's mine (!) and goes by the name of MARTY;) Which of course doesn't mean that I think our FBI Marty is old or not handsome. Quite the opposite actually;)

* * *


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4:**

"Look at this." Danny pointed at one of his papers and then entered something into his computer.

"Alex has called a Lionel Pearson a couple of times in the past six month."

Elena leaned over Danny's shoulder to see it for herself.

"Have we got anything on him?" She wanted to know.

"Nope, he's clean. That is apart from a case of youthful indiscretion when he was 16. Pestering of a prostitute. But nothing serious and as I said he was 16. Everybody does something stupid at that age."

"So why would he call this guy?"

Danny looked at his screen again.

"Obviously they were working for the same company."

Elena sighed.

"Come on, he could have called him for a thousand reasons then. Doesn't mean he is into something. Or are you suggesting he's gay?" Her last question was an expression of pure sarcasm.

"I really don't understand your derisive comment now. I mean, I'm just trying to consider every possibility." Danny tried to defend himself although he didn't really know why he always ended up defending himself when talking to Elena. She teased him constantly and he could see from her face how much she seemed to enjoy it. But one day he swore to himself it was going to be his turn to enjoy teasing her. He just needed to come up with something.

"I bet you do. I'm going to call Jack and tell him to ask if his wife knows anything about a Lionel Pearson. Maybe he's just a family friend." And with that Elena headed to her own bullpen.

"Bet he is..." Danny said with disbelief and concentrated on his work again.

* * *

"Are you alright?" Martin asked when Sam leaned against the wall and closed her eyes. 

"Sure." She replied quickly and opened her eyes again. "It's just this damn headache. I can't seem to get rid of it today."

"When we're done here you should try to get some rest. Should I take you home before I go back to the office? I'm sure Jack will understand." Martin made that suggestion although he knew that she would never do this and as he expected she shook her head.

"No, I'm okay. Besides I couldn't rest until we have found Juliet anyway."

Martin could understand that. He didn't know the whole story about Sam's family, but he knew that there was a connection between Juliet Newman and the young Samantha Spade. And whatever Sam must have dreamed that night it had reminded her of the way she had been, the way her life had been and the decisions she had made. Juliet was very similar to the young Samantha, but she had made different decisions and as far as they had learned they have lead her to drugs and prostitution. That's what made Sam wonder whether her life could have been the same if she had been less strong. And that's what always brought her thoughts back to her own family and all that had gone wrong there.

"If you change your mind just let me know, okay? I would hate to see you get worse."

Sam smiled gently at him, but didn't have the time to respond, because someone came up from behind.

"Can I help you?" It was a very skinny, young woman in her twenties with long, dark hair.

Martin and Sam were instantly pulled from their private moment.

"Ah... yeah." Martin said regaining his professionalism. "We're looking for Lucy Hayes."

The woman scanned them carefully.

"I'm Lucy Hayes." She finally responded. "And you're with the police or what?"

"FBI." Sam said showing her badge. "We wanted to ask a couple of questions about the disappearance of Juliet Newman. We understand you live together?"

Lucy searched her pockets for the key to the apartment. When she had finally found it she unlocked the door.

"We do. Come in."

The agents sat down at the kitchen table and Sam took out her notebook.

"Would you like anything to drink?" Lucy asked pouring herself some water into a glass.

"No, we're fine, thanks."

Lucy took a seat at the table as well.

"So you came by to talk about Juliet?"

"That's right. When was the last time you saw her?" Martin took over the part of questioning again.

"That would have been two days ago. We were having breakfast together. Afterwards I had a couple of clients and I didn't come home until very early in the morning. Juliet must have been in bed already. When I woke up the next morning she was already off somewhere, but she must have been home after I went again, because she left me a message."

"May we see that message?"

"Yes, sure."

Lucy stood up to get it. She rummaged through the drawers and finally her face lid up when she pulled out a piece of paper.

"This is it." She explained when she handed it over to Martin.

_Hey Lucy,_

_I'm off on some business. Could take some time. Don't worry! _

_Love,_

_Julie_

Martin handed the sheet over to Sam who read it carefully and then put it into her notebook as evidence.

"We'll need to keep this." She said to Lucy who nodded in return.

"What did she mean by "business"?" Martin continued.

Lucy shrugged as if she didn't really want to talk about it.

"Well, actually that was the thing that surprised me when I read the message." She paused for a moment.

"How so?"

"She's been talking about getting out of business. You know, do something useful, a good job..."

"Do you know what it was that caused these plans?" Sam wanted to know.

"Not really, no. But I know that she also has been to one of those groups. The ones that help you get clean and that sort of thing. She didn't go out for quite a while too and...she didn't drink any alcohol."

Martin looked at Sam, Sam at Martin and Lucy at both agents at the same time.

"Oh my..." Were the only words that left Lucy's mouth.

"You think she might have been pregnant?" It was Martin who asked the obvious question.

Lucy was still a bit baffled.

"I never really thought about it up until now, but it might have been possible. That would explain a lot of things. When she vomited all over this place last week I thought it was just a virus. And all those things she has done to get out of here. But why wouldn't she tell me?"

"Do you see any possibility she might just have run away without telling anyone?" Martin saw the missing person's case fading into another person who simply ran away.

"Not without telling her brother. And he must have been the one who called you."

Sam leaned forwards when she asked another question that was one her mind.

"Do you know of any men with whom she had contact lately? Maybe could be possible fathers of a child assuming she is pregnant?"

Lucy thought about this for some time and suddenly something seemed to come to her mind.

"I heard her arguing with somebody about a week ago. The guy she was discussing with came to see her quite often. I almost would have thought it was something serious. I don't know his name, but he seemed to be pretty upset the last time I saw him. The small bits and pieces I got from their conversation where about something being somebody's fault and about money. I'm sorry, but I thought that it was none of my business so I didn't exactly try to hear anything. And it was obvious she didn't want to talk about it later. Maybe I should have pushed harder. I don't know. Maybe this had something to do with her disappearance."

Martin and Sam exchanged another glance. Things were not lighting in up in the Juliet Newman case. They knew cases like these well enough.

"Miss Hayes we will need you to come with us to the office to identify the man she had that argument with."

Lucy nodded.

"Sure anything to help finding her."

* * *

"Mr. Pearson, we understand you and Alexander Rowley had contact within the last six months." 

"Who's asking that?" The middle-aged man looked suspiciously over his glasses.

"Special agents Danny Taylor and Elena Delgardo, FBI."

Lionel Pearson rose from his seat a puzzled expression in his face.

"I don't understand. We didn't do anything that could be important enough to involve the FBI. It wasn't anything illegal."

Danny finally had the feeling they were getting ahead with the Rowley case. His guts told him that this guy was the key.

"That will be up to us to decide, won't it? Now why don't you tell us what kind of business you and Alex had to talk about so often on the phone." Danny took a chair standing nearby and a still perplexed Lionel Pearson slowly sank back into his seat.

"Well we've been working on something together about six months ago and all of a sudden his phone rang. It was his wife. Somehow this call triggered something in him. I didn't think it was about anything off the ordinary, but he was in a really bad mood afterwards. I asked him about it and he told me he couldn't go on like this and that his marriage made him unhappy. I was a little surprised to put it mildly, because I didn't even know him quite well and he was quite famous as the henpecked husband round here." Mr. Pearson paused a moment, took off his glasses to rub his eyes and then placed them back on his nose.

"The strangest thing was that after work he began to ask me where people at our age used to go out to get some company. I thought it was just something he said, but when he approached me the next day I changed my mind."

Danny rested his head one his right fist while he listened and Elena stood behind him shaking her head in disbelief.

"So what were you two up to then?" She wanted to know.

"You know, I know clubs where you find company quite easily. So I took him there. And that was about it. He called me sometimes when he wanted to go again."

Elena took some notes.

"To which club did you go?" Danny continued his questioning.

"To the A & B."

"Always?"

"Yeah, I think so."

"And Alex had sex with some of the girls there?" Danny wanted to push this a bit further.

"Well I wasn't with him all night, but I would think so. Actually there one special girl he had met there. He seemed to enjoy her company most."

"And who was that girl?"

"Hell, I wouldn't know that. Alex and I didn't talk about such things. But if you ask me, she was plain. Nothing exceptional. Dark hair, about 5'7" and quite thin."

"Okay. How often did Alex go there with you?"

"Twice a week or something, but he hasn't asked me this week."

"That's because he is missing since yesterday. Any idea where he might be?"

Pearson looked stunned and then shrugged.

"No, I didn't know he was missing. He was a little quieter than usual at work yesterday, if that's possible. I thought there was something on his mind, but I didn't ask."

"Okay, thanks Mr. Pearson. We will come back to you if we need your expertise once more." Danny couldn't hide his sarcasm. He smiled at Mr. Pearson once more and then stood up to leave.

* * *

"Miss Hayes, why don't you take a seat? There will be someone with you in a minute to look at some pictures with you." Martin pointed a chair on the conference table. 

"Sure." Lucy sat down. She felt a bit awkward being in an FBI office. It wasn't the first time she was involved with the law enforcement of some kind, but she wasn't used to being a witness. She had been caught with drugs once when she was still a teenager and lately she had been blamed to have threatened somebody with a knife. This however had been an act of self-defense and she was set free again.

When Martin and Sam had put some distance between themselves and Lucy they began to talk with low voices.

"What do you think?" Martin asked.

"Maybe this guy Juliet was arguing with was the farther and he killed her, because he didn't want the child. That is if she was indeed pregnant."

Martin nodded slowly. He had little doubt that Juliet was indeed expecting a child.

Cases like these always made him angry. He just couldn't understand why someone would do such a thing. There were so many other possibilities than blindly killing a baby and the mother. He just couldn't grasp which kind of evil must be acting in people like these.

"Lucy also mentioned something about money. Any thoughts?"

Sam shrugged.

"He could have been a client who still owed her money. Or..." She couldn't finish her sentence, because Martin was thinking exactly the same and spoke it out.

"...it was a bribe."

Sam nodded in agreement.

"Assuming it was a bribe then the man we are looking for was probably married and he must have had to pay her quite a sum. Juliet wanted a new living and this could have been the best opportunity to get the money she needed." Sam continued their brainstorming. They had always been invincible in this sort of game, because they were thinking in the same ways. This made them an excellent team.

"You think she might have got pregnant on purpose?"

Sam shook her head.

"I don't think so. I think she didn't even consider the possibility of getting her life in order before she found out she was expecting a child."

"Agent Fitzgerald?" Sam and Martin both turned around to see Lucy was the one calling. The agents walked up to her.

Somebody had already brought her some pictures of men that could be possible suspects.

"Do you recognize anybody?" Martin asked looking at the picture Lucy had held in her hand.

"I do." She said staring into nothingness for a minute.

"Are you sure it's this guy?" Sam tried to call her into reality again.

Lucy focused in them again and then shook her head vehemently.

"No." She said and the agents already let out a sigh of disappointment. "But it's this guy!" She almost yelled pointing at the picture of Alexander Rowley on the blackboard.

**END CHAPTER 4...**

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A/N: **Actually I've nothing important to say today... Doesn't happen very often:) So just enjoy chapter 4 and let me know what you think

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	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5:**

"Okay." Jack said when the whole team was sitting around the conference table. "The new evidence Martin and Sam just came up with makes Alexander Rowley the prime suspect in the Juliet Newman case. There is a great chance that, if we find Rowley, we might learn something about Juliet Newman as well. So we'll double our efforts to find him. Danny, you and Elena check out the bar Rowley has been to. Maybe somebody remembers anything. Viv and I are going to pay his Boston friend another visit. Martin and Sam, you are on the Juliet Newman angle. Try to find out if her friend or brother or anybody else remembers anything."

Vivian sighed as if as if there was something on her mind, but she had to consider whether to say it or not. But she did.

"Jack? I don't like to be the spoilsport, but couldn't it be that they just ran away together?"

Danny was the one shaking his head in response. "I think that's very unlikely. Alex Rowley hasn't taken a single cent from his bank account and he doesn't even have a credit card. His wife does all the financial stuff. And as far as Martin has told me Juliet Newman wasn't exactly somebody with a lot of money. So what would they live from?"

Martin nodded. "And if Alex was indeed the guy who got Juliet pregnant and she really wanted money from him, because that's what Lucy seems to remember..."

Sam continued his thought once more. "Then were did he get it, if he did indeed pay. I doubt it would have passed unnoticed, if he took it from his bank account. Especially since his wife does the financials. Unless he didn't pay at all."

Jack held up his hands to stop her.

"Let's not give in to all this speculation. I agree that this is a twisted case and that's why we should try to solve it as quickly as possible."

* * *

"What can I get you?" The bartender ask when he saw two people coming up to him. It was almost 6 p.m. and it not very busy yet. 

"Danny Taylor and Elena Delgardo, FBI." He let the person behind the bar see his badge and put it away again. "We would like to ask you a couple of questions about yesterday night."

The bartender shrugged although his confusion was obvious.

"Yeah, sure, but I wouldn't know about anything unusual yesterday."

Elena took out a photograph of Alexander Rowley and placed it on the counter for the bartender to see.

"You recognize this man?"

He nodded.

"He's been here every now and then. A Boston kid if I'm not mistaken."

Elena put the photo back into her pocket.

"Right. Has he been here yesterday?"

"Yeah, he was here with Phinn, who lives just 'round the corner. They often came here together. Not so very often in the last couple of months, but..." He shrugged again and began to tap a Guinness for a guest who had just ordered. But that didn't stop Danny and Elena to continue their inquiries.

"Did you notice anything abnormal? Odd behavior? Anything?"

The bartender stop tapping for a moment to try to remember the scene from the evening before clearly.

"Phinn was his usual self. A very cheerful and lively guy who drank a bit too much. Alex Rowley was a bit serious yesterday. Wouldn't even laugh about one of my Irish jokes. But I figured he was in a bad mood so I left him alone. Then he got a call on his mobile and seemed quite agitated afterwards. He left not much later. I would say about nine."

Danny who had taken a seat on one of the chairs leaned forward.

"You sure it was nine and not, let's say ten?"

The bartender shook his head.

"No, I always get my break at ten and he had been gone for some time by then."

"Okay and what about Phinn? When did he leave?" Elena asked.

"First he followed Alex, but he came back later. I'm sure he just wanted to know why he was in such a bad mood. That didn't happen very often with Alex. Then he stayed until ten. He said he had to work an early shift so he went home."

* * *

"Sam, take a look at this." Martin called from his bullpen. Sam stood up from her chair with a moan. She was beginning to feel a little stiff and feeble. The last thing she needed right now was getting sick, but she tried to hide it as good as she could. 

"Coming." She said when she was almost there. "What have you got?"

"Look," He pointed at a specific section on his screen. "Obviously Juliet tried to call her mom last week and again yesterday morning, but nobody answered the phone."

Sam looked at him in surprise.

"You think she might have been calling for help?"

"Perhaps, but I wonder why she didn't ask her brother then."

Sam sat down on the edge of his table.

"You've seen how little he has. Maybe she didn't want to burden him with that."

Martin agreed and turned back to his screen and let out a deep sigh of frustration.

"You know, Martin, when she was pregnant she might have seen a gynecologist, right?"

"Probably. You want the numbers of those in her neighborhood?"

"That would be great. I'm not sure whether anyone is going to tell us anything, but it's worth trying."

Martin looked at the numbers of gynecologists in her neighborhood.

"It's your lucky day. We've got 18 within a radius of 10km and there's no guarantee hers is among them."

Sam took the numbers and walked back to her bullpen. Her phone was waiting for her.

But about half an hour later she was indeed lucky.

"No, I forgot my appointment." She said still on the phone. She decided it was easier trying it like this than choosing the official way. She doubted that people would have been that cooperative then. "Yes...of course...it won't happen again... no...of course...bye."

"Hey Martin," she leaned back in her chair so she could look over to him. "Four-month pregnant Juliet Newman was seeing a Dr. Ryes for only three weeks. She must have found out she was pregnant just then. I just had to listen to the phone lady telling me not to be so careless with my appointments in my present situation."

"Well at least we're off the speculation track concerning her pregnancy then. I just talked to her mother. She didn't hear anything from her daughter in 4 years. She ran away when she was 17. Her son Matthew calls her every now and then to tell her everything is okay, but she didn't know Juliet was missing until now. She has been on holiday somewhere and just came back. She's taking the next flight to NY."

* * *

"Mr. Fitzlewis we're sorry to bother you again, but we have some more questions we would like to ask you." Jack explained when he and Vivian entered the mess he called his apartment. 

"Okay, why don't you sit down."

The agents accepted his offer.

Before Jack had even began to question Fitzlewis his mobile rang. It was Danny.

"Would you excuse me?" He didn't really expect an answer so he stood up and put some distance between them.

Mr. Fitzlewis sat down on his couch and tried to listen to the conversation on the phone as well as he could.

"Hey, what have you got?...Really?...Okay, thanks. Anything from Martin?...So she is? Yeah okay. I'll check it out."

Jack came back and saw Fitzlewis nervously shifting in his seat. He had heard what he had talked about on the phone and he knew that the following interrogation was going to be tough for him.

"Mr. Fitzlewis," Jack began in a friendly tone, "you told one of my agents that you thought Mr. and Mrs. Rowley had some trouble in marriage."

"Maybe. That was just the impression I got."

"Would you mind describing the sort of trouble they had?"

Fitzlewis tried to keep up the appearance of innocence and raised his shoulders just to let them fall down a moment later.

Jack knew Fitzlewis would be easy to break, but he decided to play his game for a moment longer.

"You also told one of my agents you and Alexander Rowley left the bar together at 10. Is that correct?"

The man sitting opposite of Jack was getting nervous. He rubbed his hands on his trousers and nodded.

"That's right."

Jack nodded and then a long silence passed between them. Now was the right time...

"It's strange that we seem to know the facts quite better than you do."

The muscles in Fitzlewis face began to twitch.

"I don't know what you mean." He tried to save himself one last time.

"Well then let me help you a little bit. Alex Rowley had an affair. You could call that quite a problem in marriage I would say. Now would this affair not be the least bit interesting for me, if your Boston friend hadn't got that young woman pregnant. She wanted to have this baby, but he obviously didn't. She called him on his mobile that night when you were at the bar. She wanted to meet him, because she wanted to have some money from him and I can't even blame her for that. So he drove away to meet her and left you alone in the bar so you could provide him with an alibi. Now that's friendship. The only problem is that he didn't have any money, because he wanted to get rid of this problem in another way. He killed her and you covered for him. This means you will be charged for being an accessory to murder. You like my story?" Jack asked smiling sarcastically.

Fitzlewis was left speechless for a couple of moments.

"I swear I didn't know anything about somebody being pregnant and about all that money stuff you were talking about. I went with him to the pub that night and he was in a bad mood. When he got a phone call he was even worse and wanted to go. I had never seen him like this so I followed him outside. He told me the story about an affair, but that he wanted to break up with that woman for Catherine's sake. That's what I thought I covered for. He wanted to meet her and tell her it was over. I thought I was just helping my friend."

Vivian just couldn't believe it. She shook her head.

"Mr. Fitzlewis, you will have to come with us."

* * *

"Anything from Jack?" Sam asked with a drowsy voice. She had rested her head on her right hand. It was becoming heavier and heavier every minute and every now and then a slight shiver was shaking her body. 

Martin came over to her and leaned against her desk.

"No, not yet. He is still busy with Fitzlewis in the interrogation room."

Sam silently sighed.

"So there is little hope of finding Juliet alive?"

Martin nodded. He knew how hard this had to be for her. Finding out how a basically identical life could become so different by just one decision you make during a lifetime. This woman could have been Sam, if she had made only one other decision in her life.

"I keep thinking about her mother, you know. I think she really wanted to be back in her daughter's life and now she has missed that chance all because of a stupid coincidence. If she hadn't been on holiday none of this might have happened. All of this just seems so pointless."

Sam couldn't stop some silent tears that began rolling down her cheeks. This moment of weakness started her shivering again.

"Hey..." Martin said gently stroking her arm.

Sam tried to regain her composure again, but didn't really succeed. Angry with herself she wiped the tears away.

"I'm okay." She attempted to convince him.

"You don't really look like that." He replied honestly. Her cheeks were glowing and her eyes were glassy. He reached for her forehead and as he had expected it was burning.

"Come on, I'll take you home. You're hardly in the condition to work."

"I'm fine. Really."

Martin looked into her eyes and she could never lie when he did that.

"You're right. I don't feel that well, but have to stay a bit longer. Just to know what has become of Juliet. You're free to take me home then."

"I take your word for it."

She smiled weakly. "But only if I get a nice, hot cup of tea."

"I think I could arrange that."

* * *

„I swear it! I don't know where he went. He headed for his car and I went back inside. That was the last time I saw him." Phineas Fitzlewis was getting tired reaffiming he hadn't seen anything. And to be honest Jack didn't think that he knew more than what he had already told them. 

„Would you know of any places where he used to meet that woman?"

Fitzlewis rubbed his eyes leaned back in the incomfortable chair.

„The only thing he told me is that he met her at a club and that was it. I didn't even know he had an affair until yesterday. So the answer to your question would be no. I have no idea."

„But he did take his car, right?" Jack tired to approach this from another direction. Fitzlewis didn't know anything about Alex Rowley's whereabouts so there was no point following that track.

„Yes." The interviewee nodded.

„What kind of car would that be?"

„A red Ford Windstar."

„Okay, thanks." Jack chose to say something nice for a change. Fitzlewis wasn't a bad guy. He was just terribly naive and good-natured and that was not the most beneficial combination in that world outside. He was the perfect target to take advantage of which even his best friend seemed to do.

Jack headed for the door.

„Just wait here for a moment. I'll be back in a minute."

* * *

„Danny, have NYPD check for a red Ford Windstar. Maybe Rowley's car gives us a new lead in the case." 

„I'm on it." Danny answered from his bullpen already dialing a number.

„Martin, Sam, I want you to talk to the mother as soon as she arrives. You are the experts on the Juliet Newman case so I think you are best qualified for the job." Both agents nodded and a concerned look from Martin on Sam didn't go unnoticed. But if it was something that should concern all of them Jack was certain that Martin would have mentioned it. And what passed between them privately was not up to him to decide. He just wanted Sam to be happy.

* * *

It was not much later when Jack came in with bad news. 

"NYPD just called. They've found the red Ford Windstar in the woods along with two bodies not far away. They are positive that they belong to Juliet Newman and Alexander Rowley. Obviously Juliet has been stabbed and Rowley has cut his arteries. They found a picture of Juliet's only ultrasound from a week ago at the scenery."

The team was silent. Everybody could imagine what had happened last night: Alex and Juliet had met and he had killed her for whatever reasons he had. When he found the picture of the ultrasound he realized what he had done. He saw the innocent life he had just ended and couldn't stand that.

They all knew that they couldn't save everybody, but that made the cases they lost not easier to bear.

But they came back to their job every day and hoped for a good ending of the next case.

* * *

„Mrs. Newman? Thanks for coming in." Martin who entered the room first said while he held the door open for Sam. 

The agents sat down with the elderly-looking woman. She couldn't be that old, but life had definitly left its traces on her.

„Have you got any news on Julie? Have you found her yet?" Mrs. Newman sounded so full of hope and her eyes told them that she couldn't wait to get her daughter back again.

Martin glanced over to Sam. She didn't appear to be in the condition to tell the mother the unwanted truth and he didn't want to burden her with that. Her body was shaking from fever and she seemed absent.

He decided not to beat about the bush and make this as painless for everybody as it was possible under the circumstances.

„Mrs. Newman, your daughter was pregnant from a married man. He has... She's dead. I'm very sorry."

Mrs. Newman didn't say anything, but the hope in her eyes expired immediately.

„No." Her voice was merely a whisper.

Martin's gaze sunk to the ground and Sam continued staring into nothingness for fear she might lose the fight she fought with her tears.

„I..." Mrs. Newman wanted to begin after a long silence, but she just couldn't. After some time she finally found enough words to make the agents understand that she would rather be alone.

Martin and Sam stood up and left the room.

Outside Martin let out a deep sigh. This was something he would never get used to.

„Martin?" He heard Sam's low voice beside him.

His look shifted from the ground onto her. He had never seen her so fragile as she looked now.

„Yeah?" He asked.

„I would really like you to take me home now."

* * *

**THE END

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A/N: **So that was it! I hope you enjoyed it and I would really like to know what you think of it! I take this opportunity to thank every one who has reviewed the last chapters!** Thanks to pealee, babs6608, saturn 567, specialfrog, Hamilyn **(you should really do a longer story. I would definitely read it!)**, Elena ;) and all the anonymous reviewers (sam4martin, watSM, erg and Just me:) ) It really meant a lot!  
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